The Senate needs to act on the bill before this Congressional term ends, otherwise lawmakers and music industry lobbyists must start the legislative process again next year.

The revised and amended Music Modernization Act that got the okay from the Senate Judiciary Committee June 28 was still garnering accolades from all sides of the music business days after its passing.

Yet, the proposed amendments to the bill -- some that were added in the Senate and some that are still under consideration by lawmakers -- are also raising new questions and concerns, including how to pay for the proposals.

At stake is proposed legislation that music trade groups say will ensure digital music services pay fair royalties for every song they stream, establish better standards for determining royalty rates and eliminate some out-of-date provisions of the PRO consent decrees. In return, digital music services get certainty, legal protection and new streamlined tools to insure accurate reporting and payment to right holders at lower cost. The main element of the legislation creates an agency to issue a blanket license to digital services and collect play information and pay the appropriate right holders, and to build a central database that matches the rights owners of songs with master recordings. It also requires that the consent decrees of ASCAP and BMI to be overseen by rotating judges, instead of having the same two judges involved in that process. Finally, it insures that digital and satellite services pay royalties for pre-1972 master recordings, while also codifying a system to allow Sound Exchange to pay producers the royalties they are due on the records they work on.